


Rivetra Week: Ruined

by mikimagic



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Emotional, F/M, Major Character Injury, rivetra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 20:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4451402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikimagic/pseuds/mikimagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi's memories of his past life are slowly returning to him, including his memories of Petra. He hurries to the train station to catch her before leaving, but what happens when he attempts to save her from an oncoming car gone out of control?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rivetra Week: Ruined

He kept running.

And running.

He didn’t know why he didn’t just take his car...

Maybe because it would have been a bitch to get out of that god forsaken garage in this shitty downtown traffic at this hour. Not to mention the shitty weather; it was pouring rain at this point, and he was pretty sure a storm was brewing right above his head at this very moment, but it didn’t matter. None of this shit in his life mattered anymore. And it would matter even less until he stopped that girl from getting on that train. He wasn’t exactly sure what was going on in his head. He wasn’t even sure if these sudden memories that came flooding back to him were real or if he was literally just going insane. Either way, he had to get to her…he had to find Petra Ral before any harm came to her. 

He made a sharp turn at the corner of the block, nearly ramming into a couple walking underneath a large black umbrella. The man shook his fist and yelled some sort of obscenity at the raven haired boy as the women put her hand to her mouth in a surprised fright; but Levi didn’t seem to notice, he only kept running. The station wasn’t too far from his apartment, thankfully, so hopefully he wasn’t too late. These dreams he had…no…more like nightmares. They were getting more prominent lately, and he lost so much sleep because of it. Images of giant monsters that ate human beings alive, living in a world where humans lived within restricted walls, and worst of all, in all of these nightmares, Levi felt horribly alone. Everyone he had ever seemed to hold dear had been killed…including Petra. The last image he had been seeing in his dreams every night since he met Petra was the girl crushed up against a tree, bleeding from her face, and staring back up at him with a haunting expression. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Petra of that image, for what would she even think of him? He couldn’t even figure out why in the hell he would even dream of such a thing, unless he was some sick fuck, which he was starting to even consider…until tonight. 

Tonight, it was all coming back to him. It wasn’t completely full force, but it was definitely there. Shitty glasses, being the eccentric she was, had often talked about past lives and reincarnation to him. So, was it possible that she knew about this too? Levi would usually blow off such unrealistic theories as pure fantasy. He wasn’t exactly a religious man and therefore didn’t look too much into the afterlife or reincarnation or anything like that really. He was even surprised Hanji talked of such things due to her being strictly all science, but then again there were still a lot of things about Hanji that he didn’t quite understand; regardless of how long he’s known her. Despite he’s past beliefs, he wasn’t even sure what he believed anymore. All he knew was these dreams were feeling more real now, and if it turns out to be true that those dreams were, in fact, memories from his past life, he knew he had to find Petra. He had already waited too long to sort out his jumbled up feelings for her already, but now he was certain of it all. He picked up his pace as lightning flashed above him, and the rain began to fall harder.

He couldn’t live without her, and he wouldn’t let her get away again.

As he hastily approached the intersection that crossed over to the train station, he was faced with a big problem. A big annoyance of living in the city was the large crowds of people. It was getting dark already, raining, and now he was surrounded by a massive amount of people; all covered in hoods, umbrellas and hats. He was already taking a risk looking for her now as it was, but finding her at the crowded train station was going to be an even tougher task then he had thought of. He started to push through the crowd, looking left and right, but no sign of her yet. Curse his short stature…. He couldn’t see shit. He kept pushing past people, causing high levels of annoyance, but as always, he didn’t give a shit. The walk sign changed, and now the crowd was moving, making it worse to keep a look out for her now that everyone was moving. He stepped aside and let the crowd pass as he caught his breath, already anxious from being stuck in crowd like that. His chest moved up and down rapidly, but he balled his fists at his side and took a deep breath in, held it, and slowly exhaled. He skipped out on his meds today and now he was paying for it, but he wasn’t going to let it get the better of him. He looked up once more and back towards the street. Maybe it was hopeless. Who’s to say she hadn’t already left? Hanji did say she was catching the 8 o’ clock train, but what if she changed her mind at the last minute and left earlier? 

“Fuck…” he muttered as the rain continued to fall. He was starting to feel a chill in his bones. He was now drenched, so the hooded jacket he was wearing was now no real use to him.

He took a step forward, knowing he wouldn’t give up until he searched that station. It was already 7:50, so he had to hustle. Before he could take another step, however, he felt a slight knock at his shoulder. He turned to see a hooded girl running quickly past him, slightly grazing his shoulder in the process. She didn’t bother to turn, only called out “Sorry!” and continued to head towards the street in a hurry. He didn’t get a very good look at the girl, but he turned to see her anxiously waiting at the crosswalk, eagerly awaiting for the walk sign to turn. She donned a floral skirt with a pair of pink rain boots, carrying a floral printed luggage bag. All of those things would not have even had Levi second guess that the hooded girl was Petra. It was the hooded sweatshirt that she was wearing. No fashionable girl would have mixed such a cute outfit with that ratty hoodie, at least ten years old and a faded black, with the word “Ruined” stenciled on in white spray paint. The only other people who owned a similar sweatshirt was Levi’s other former bandmates, whom he hasn’t even seen in years. It had to have been her…she loved that stupid, fucking sweater…

He snapped out of his thoughts and saw she wasn’t standing at the crosswalk anymore, but trying to cross the street in moving traffic! Levi knew it was common for city residents not to abide by the traffic laws because they were so accustomed to traffic flow around her. Levi has even done this before, crossed the street if there was no traffic coming, even if the walk sign advised against it. But this girl was attempting to cross, stop when cars sped by, then walk again. Petra hadn’t lived downtown nearly as long as Levi had, but she started to get cocky with this shit…and it always pissed him off. It was mostly because she put herself in danger and didn’t think twice about it. Levi began to walk quickly to the crosswalk, about to call out to this girl, his instincts strong.

“Petra!!” he called.

The girl turned, now standing on the median in the intersection. She pulled her hood down, revealing her bright ginger locks, soaked from the rain. Levi’s heart dropped to his stomach as a sigh of relief escaped his lips. It was her.

Petra put her hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes from the rain. She squinted, her face puzzled.

“Levi?” she mouthed.

Levi looked both ways before he swiftly began to cross the road.

Unaware to both of them, just down the road sped a red sports car. The young boy driving picked up speed in his hot, new vehicle, with no regards to the conditions of the road. Not to mention, he didn’t exactly have his eyes on the road, as he was texting while at the wheel. This already caused the driver to nearly sideswipe the car next to him, getting honked at in the process. In a fit of road rage, the boy sped past the other driver, now looking back and yelling obscenities, not realizing that his was approaching a red light at the same intersection that lead to the train station. The civilians that were beginning to cross the road quickly jumped back as the driver of the red sports car lost control of his vehicle and began to swerve towards the median. 

The ginger haired girl’s eyes widened as the car came her way. There was no time.

“PETRA!!”

Not even a fraction of a second passed before she felt herself getting forced to the ground, feeling something crack in her left arm, and a sharp burning pain go up both of her legs. But what followed that was even more terrifying…

She saw his face briefly, his arms were outstretched from the act of pushing her; a look of pure panic before the car hit him. His body went flying, before hitting the pavement harshly with a loud ‘whack!’, not even looking like a human body anymore, but more like some rag doll. Petra could only look in horror as traffic stopped, civilians started making a commotion, and the sound of the rain on the pavement. 

“Miss? Miss!”

Petra slowly turned towards a bystander who was now knelt beside her, helping her sit up. 

“Are you alright? Can you speak?” 

“I think she’s in shock…”

“Did somebody call an ambulance??”

“What about that guy?”

“Oh man…he’s in bad shape…”

“Is he even alive?”

Petra shook her head, which was now achy, snapping out of her trance. Painfully, she tried to lift herself from the ground, but only succeeded in putting pressure on her most likely broken arm. She let out a wail as the pain began to sink in. She looked over at the accident site; the car was totaled and the driver was just now getting out of his car, with the help of other bystanders. Meanwhile, people began to crowd around the body that was his. He lay there lifelessly, broken and battered….ruined. Tears began to flow unconsciously from her eyes as she quickly looked at the people next to her.

“Help me!!” she screamed. 

Startled by her sudden outburst, two of the bystanders gently helped her to her feet.

“Miss, you really should try to stay put until a medic gets here.” The man spoke as Petra got on her feet, wobbling a bit at first.

It was as if Petra didn’t even hear him, nor did she heed the stranger’s words of advice. She quickly ran over to the site, her busted arm lifeless at her side as she picked up the pace. The pain was unbearable, but it didn’t matter. It didn’t even fucking matter anymore. She had to get to him….

“LEVI!!!!!” 

She saw the crowd around him, and she frantically began pushing past everyone. People were already figuring that she was the other victim of the car crash; the girl that the boy had pushed out of the way, according to some of the people who witnessed it all. The police were already there, and the wailing of ambulance sirens were drawing near. The cops were telling people to get back, but Petra kept pushing forward, tears now streaming down her face. 

“Levi…Levi!!” 

She saw his broken body lying limp on the ground, blood all over the pavement.

“Please no…no, no, no….!!” the redhead thought to herself before letting out a whimper.

“Ma’am? Ma’am! You need to step back!” one of the police officers had his hands gently on the girl’s shoulder, but he spotted her injured arm immediately and refrained from touching it. “Where’s a medic?” he barked.

Petra only yanked away from him and continued to push past the officer.

“Miss! You need to stay put!” he pulled her back and looked her in the eye, a stern tone now forming in his voice.

“No, please!” she cried. “That’s my friend! I need to see him!!” she began to cry, not even caring who saw her anymore, and pushed past the cop again, though this time he didn’t bother to stop her. He motioned to his other fellow officers to let her be, as they both would be separated soon anyway as the ambulance was just pulling up. 

Petra fell to her knees and gently turned the battered boy’s head towards her. 

“Levi?? Oh god…” she put two fingers to his neck. 

A pulse. He was still alive.

“Levi? Levi…come on baby…are you with me?” she whimpered, gently stroking his cheek with the back of her hand. 

Levi heard the girl’s sweet voice and managed to open his eyes, which was a chore of its own at that point. He opened his mouth to say something, but all he could do was mouth her name before he started coughing, spluttering blood has he did. 

“Shhh…stop, stop…” she whispered and leaned down, taking her sleeve and gently wiping away the blood from his mouth. “Don’t talk, baby…” tears continued to flow from her eyes as she shut them tightly, her forehead now to Levi’s while caressing his cheek gently in her hand. 

“You’re so stupid…you’re so stupid…!” she whimpered. “Why??”

“I had to…” Levi whispered softly, his voice croaking a bit.

“No you didn’t…!”

“I wasn’t going to let you die again…”

“Levi…what are you…?”

“I love you, Petra.”

“Stop…! Stop…” her shoulders shook as she kept her forehead to his. “Don’t you do this…!”

“Fuck, Petra…I’m so stupid…I’m sorry…I can’t express myself like I should…!” he coughed again, with only a little blood trickling from his mouth this time. “I should have told you before you left…I fucking don’t want to be without you…ever…now what am I gonna fucking do?” 

She lifted her head and looked at him, into those sapphire eyes that looked so broken…and yet there he was…smiling at her. Petra had never seen Levi smile before, not around her or anyone for that matter.

“Levi stop! You don’t have to…I’m here…I’ll stay...! I’m right here, baby…” 

“Petra…..” Levi lost his voice and looked up at the sky, rain still falling on him. He went into a daze, and then slowly began to close his eyes.

“No…no!” Petra cried. Before she could do anything, she felt two hands on her shoulder. A police officer and paramedic were there, trying to take her away from him again. 

“I said no!” she tried to yank away from them, but now more paramedics were suddenly surrounding her and Levi, until she couldn’t see him. Too many people…she just wanted to be with him…

“Miss, please calm down. It will be alright. You’re in good hands.” The medic reassured her.

“I don’t care about me!” she squirmed and she was held back by one of the medics and the police officer from before.

“Stop!!! Let me go!! He needs me!!” she screamed.

“Sedate her.” The medic nodded at his colleague who started rummaging through his bag.

“NO!!! LEAVE ME ALONE! HEICHOU!!!!!!” 

She stopped, slapping a hand to her mouth. Why did she…?

“Mm!” she groaned as she felt a sharp pressure on her arm. She looked and saw that the medic had injected her with something. But at that moment she wasn’t even sure what was happening anymore. All of the sudden, so many images were flooding her mind; giant monsters that ate people, soldiers that donned a winged insignia on their backs…Levi…Captain Levi…Eld, Gunter, Auruo….what was this…? Her body…her last moments… getting crushed against a tree by one of those giant monsters…what was this? Why was she seeing these things? 

She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to be near Levi. But she couldn’t, and now her vision was getting hazy, her body feeling numb, all before everything turned black. 

A few hours later, Petra had woken up in a hospital bed, her arm in a cast with bandages on minor cuts and bruises. As her nurse entered the room to care for her, it took her a brief moment for her to find her bearings before immediately remembering Levi. She frantically asked the nurse what happened to Levi Ackerman, and if he was okay or not. It took a moment for the nurse to figure out who the red headed girl was talking about, considering she was speaking in broken sentences and was on the verge of tears at any moment. After a minute of listening to the girl’s rambles, she figured out that she was talking about the boy who got hit by a car; the one who saved this girl’s life. 

“Oh yes…that one. He’s in intensive care right now, miss.”

“Is he…going to be okay?” Petra asked, her eyes tired, watery, and weary with concern. 

“I’m not sure miss. I’m sorry. But I’ll let you know.”

“I need to see him! Please I just…!”

“Now, now. Let’s not get you all riled up, Miss Petra. How’s the pain in your arm and the rest of your body?” 

“I don’t…I’m in a bit of pain but I’m fine…” she went to sit up before flinching in pain and letting out a small whimper. 

“Alright honey, we can fix that, no worries.” The nurse took Petra’s arm and took an alcohol wipe to her skin.

“What are you doing…?” Petra asked, a little worried.

“I’m just going to give you a bit of something for the pain, alright darlin’?”

“I don’t…” Petra sighed. “Fine…okay…”

Petra flinched as the nurse injected a small needle into her arm, which was hooked up to some sort of fluid sack beside her. Petra sat still as the strange substance flowed through her veins. She suddenly began to feel light headed, and very, very calm. 

“I need to see Levi…” she mumbled.

“I’ll keep you updated, miss. As soon as I find out anything I’ll be sure to let you know.” The nurse stood up once more. “If you need anything, just give that button a press, alright?” the woman pointed to a button on the wall right next to Petra’s bed. 

“I just…want Levi…I remember…Levi Heichou…” Petra’s eyes got heavy, and before she knew it, she was knocked out again. 

 

“Mmm….” Petra slowly opened her eyes once again, her lids still as heavy as ever.

Outside her window showed a dark sky, and she knew it was nighttime, but wasn’t quite sure how late it was. She looked at her arm and saw the needle from earlier had been taken out, but she still felt slightly loopy. She had hoped that all of this was just a horrible nightmare, but it wasn’t. She was stuck with a broken arm, only because a boy she loved had pushed her out of the way to save her life. She clutched the blankets on her bed hard, trying to hold back tears. Why didn’t she tell him sooner? About her feelings for him? She was so stupid…

And now she had all of these memories she couldn’t explain…memories that involved Levi, and caused even more strong feelings for him, even stronger than they were before. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of her hospital bed; still sore, but not as bad before they shot her up with morphine. She was careful with her broken arm, bound in a cast a nestled safely within a sling. She quietly tiptoed past her snoring hospital roommate and to the door. She heard two nurses talking, so she moved in a bit closer to hear. 

“So that Ackerman boy…did you ever hear what happened to him?”

“He lived. It’s a miracle really.”

Petra had to put her hands to her mouth to stifle her gasp. He was alive. Levi was alive.

“He’s in rough shape, though. He had to be put in intensive care for a while, but now he’s back on this floor. He’s all busted up…but he’ll recover in time.”

“That’s just amazing…he risked his life for that girl. And he’s alive. Damn…”

She could hear the nurses walking in her direction, so she hid back behind the door as they walked past her room.

“Maybe miracles do exist…”

“Oh cut that bull, Nelly!”

“How is it bull??”

As the nurses’ voices and footsteps faded down the hallway, Petra peeked her head out the doorway once more, seeing the two step into an elevator. Quietly, she exited the room and snuck down the hallway. There was an attendant at the desk in the middle of the floor, but they were busy on the computer and going through papers, so when their back was turned, Petra snuck past him swiftly and quietly, making her way down the hall. She still felt a bit groggy from her nap and still had a small high from the morphine drip, but she was determined to get to him no matter what. The halls were dark and empty, leaving an almost dreary feeling. Petra always had hated hospitals. She felt they were just so doom and gloom, filled with the injured, the sick, and the dying, some without any hope at all. She read the name signs on each door, looking for Ackerman, but couldn’t find it. She was getting to end of the hallway now, getting a bit distraught and wondered if the nurses were talking about another floor he could possibly be on. When she was just about ready to turn around, thinking she had misheard the gossip, she saw it. The final room on that side of the floor with the name L. Ackerman. Petra did not hesitate to open the door and practically rush in. 

He was put into a private room, his bed in the corner by the window. His eyes were closed, and he was fast asleep, also hooked up to a morphine drip. He was pretty beat up, his left arm in a cast, as well as his right leg, and multiple bandages on different parts of his body. He had stitches on the side of his forehead and scrapes on his face. She quickly hurried over to him and gently put her hand on his bandaged chest. She could feel his heart beating, and his chest moving up and down. She sighed in relief; for she just had to be sure that he was still breathing. She proceeded to sit down in the chair next to his bed, watching him as he slept. She reached out her hand and gently began to stroke his hair while beginning to sing a soft tune.

“She may contain the urge to run away, but hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks. Cetirizine, your fevers’ hit me again, never kisses, all you ever send are full stops. Do you know where the wild things go? They go along to take your honey. Break down, now weep, build up breakfast now let’s eat my love, my love, love, love. Lalalala…”  
She continued to run her hand gently through his hair, looking at him with soft eyes.

“Muscle to muscle and toe to toe. The fear has gripped me but here I go. My heart sinks as I jump up. You hand grips hand as my eyes shut…Do you know where the wild things go? They go along to take your honey. Break down now sleep, build up breakfast now let’s eat my love, my love, love, love. She bruises, coughs, she splutters pistol shots, hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks. She’s morphine, queen of my vaccine, my love, my love, love, love…”

“Nnn…” the boy shifted slightly in his bed and let out a small grunt. 

Petra immediately ceased her unusual lullaby and quickly leaned forward.

“Levi??”

Levi turned his head to the girl, his expression completely dazed. “Petra…” he spoke softly.

Petra’s eyes welled with tears as she lunged forward, wrapping her good arm around Levi and sobbing profusely. Levi grunted a bit at the sudden weight on his injured body, but he didn’t care. Petra was here, alive and well. He was alive. And she was here right beside him. He nuzzled his face into her shoulder, returning her affection.

“I’m alright, Petra…stop crying, now…I hate it when you cry…” he whispered.

But Petra couldn’t help herself. She continued to cry into his chest, her shoulders trembling from the heavy sobs. “You saved my life, Levi…Why??”

“I couldn’t save it before…so I wanted to make sure you were safe this time around.” He brushed a hand through her hair softly. “I had horrible dreams about you…just gruesome and awful…you lying against that tree…battered and ruined…and all I could do was stare at you. And now I know…somehow…it wasn’t a dream. That was how you died…and it’s my fault…” Levi swallowed hard, trying to hold back tears of his own.

“You stop that! Stop it now! It wasn’t your fault! I honestly think I knew the risk I was taking. Heichou…” She put a hand to her mouth once again before muttering, “Oh my god…”

A few minutes later, the two lay in bed together, both battered and bruised, but happy and grateful to be alive…together. Petra’s tears had ceased, and she lay snuggled up close to him; Levi with his good arm around her, staring up at the ceiling.

“So…what’s the damage?” he asked her.

“Arm fracture …and some bad scrapes; that’s all. What about you?”

“Ah…man…broken arm, broken leg, broken ribs, lung puncture because of broken ribs, stitches in my head, scrapes and bruises. I’m pretty fucked up, huh?” 

“At least you’re alive…” Petra whispered. “My god, Heichou…”

“Heichou….” Levi repeated softly. “Damn…my memory is so fucking fuzzy…I never thought I’d be believing in past lives…”

“Yeah…me either…This is too creepy.” Petra looked at him, still snuggled close. 

“This is just so weird…how we…”

“Found each other again…” Petra shook her head and smiled. “Too bad it took circumstances like this to make us stick together. I knew you all these months…and never once until tonight did I even think…”  
Levi turned his head and looked at her. “You were leaving…”

“I was…”

“I couldn’t let you walk away without you knowing…Petra…”

“Levi…”

“Petra…I want you at my side. I don’t ever want to be without you…I only want you…I hope that…you only look at me, and stay…with me.” He turned away, feeling a bit flustered. This was way too many emotions for Levi to handle at once, and he didn’t want to look like a fool in front of her.

“Levi…of course I will.” She replied softly, causing Levi to turn his head towards her again. “I…love you, Levi. I should have mustered up the courage long ago and told you then, but…” she laughed, tears once again forming in her eyes. “I love you. I’ve loved you for such a long time. I waited for you…for so, so long. Then I was reborn and my memories were wiped. And now I finally found you…and I’m never leaving your side again.” She pursed her lips as tears rolled down her cheeks. 

Levi reached out his hand and wiped her tears away. “You stop that. No more tears…come here.” He pulled her close and pressed his lips against her forehead as she buried herself into him.  
“I’m never letting you go again. Never, do you fucking hear me?” 

“Same…” Petra mumbled into his chest while snuggling as close as she could to him. She brushed her hand against his and laced her fingers around his own.

“Never again…”


End file.
